Was here in the afternoon Friday 31. March together with friends after a conference in Almaty was finished. On our way up in the cablecar we passes the famous Medeo skate rink. Cheap to rent alpine skis and lift tickets, but the tracks downhill were not so challenging - but altogether a nice place to be!😎
We went there with cable car, the view was extraordinary. Up there you could take another cable car to go up for skiing. If you dont want to ski, you could enjoy nice Cafe and restaurant. The english of waiters were not satisfactory bu fair enough. If you are going Almaty you could definitely go there and see the place but dont expect too much.
Was a great experience and nice place should not miss. Anywho a small remarks about ticket sellers where the should advise visitors what they close and etc as we were up and got to know the combo 2 was close so it was waste for us to purchase combo 1 and 2
Last week-end we went to Shymbulak and enjoyed fresh air walking on the road to Tyuksu hotel. Sounds strange, but now the cars are not alowed to drive in this area and trekkers can take a deep breath of tasty mountain air! Another good surprise was to discover shuttle buses going from Medeo to Shymbulak for about $2 round trip. As experienced people we took some snacks and coffee and had a small picnic right in the mountains - combining fitness and pleasure in one:) There is still much snow and plenty sunshine, just it's better to catch this weather in the first half of the day, after lunch it's getting colder and might be foggy. Thus, not only skiiers can enjoy the mountains.
For me it is the best attraction near Almaty.
In one place you can:
- see mountains
- enter at high altitude quite quickly (there is a camping at the top!!! it might be great idea to start hiking from the top)
- try downhill
- do skiing
- there is a recreation park for kids
- hotels + restaurants at one place
Hint: avoid evenings / afternoons as lifts are closed quite early + prepare warm clothes - at the top is chilly and windy
